This is a mixed bag of short stories by Canadian writers on the effects of climate change on food and eating. Some are told with a fairy-tale like wonder, like a story about a fig tree and its progeny, while others are slice-of-life--I liked one in which a scavenger finds a book, which, being incredibly rare, earns her enough water--used as a commodity--to buy better food for herself and her son. Some are funny--there's a great eat-the-rich parody in which the only ethical meat is determined to be human mean, because humans can consent, and so celebrities offer meat cloned from their bodies--while others are expectedly grim. There's not a whole lot of originality, though; there are too many retreads of topics that have been used to death. Usually anthologies like these lead me to read more by the writers who are included, and there may be one or two here I'll track down for more, but overall the collection is a bit under the bar for me to endorse it with much enthusiasm.

Overall, this was an okay read, but nothing really stood out for me. If you enjoy dystopian stories with recurring themes around food scarcity and survival, give it a try. For me, it was hit or miss—some stories caught my interest, but most fell flat or felt like “telling” rather than “showing.”

Energy: Bleak. Acerbic. Lamenting.

🐺 Growls Some of the stories felt underdeveloped or overly focused on commentary - the focus is post-apocalyptic “worst-case” scenarios, but the constant emphasis on what’s “lost” felt repetitive, and it made the overall collection feel like it was hitting me over the head with the theme instead of just letting the plots unfold and speak for themselves.

🐕 Howls The majority either were too simplistic or too complex to fit in such a short length. Each story has different societal rules, technologies, and settings, but they’re often introduced with minimal explanation, making them confusing and difficult to follow. Some of these worlds felt so big that they needed more room to breathe—perhaps better suited to novellas or longer stories?

🐩 Tail Wags: Some stories were thought-provoking.

Mood Reading Match-Up:
Restaurant reviews. Protein synthesizer. Centrifuge. Smart glasses. Gum. Memories. Death. Hunger.
• Touch of bleak future randomness
• Witty, dark comedy moments
• Eco sci fi disaster energy
• Post apocalyptic and dystopian stories
• Using little details to infer what the situations are

Content Heads-Up: War (nuclear, mass death). Food insecurity. Financial insecurity. Pregnancy. Natural disasters. Dog abandonment. Death. Loss of loved ones. Climate/environmental collapse. Gun violence.

Rep: Canadian.

📚 Format: Advance Reader’s Copy from Dundurn Press | Rare Machines and NetGalley

A fantastic short story collection exploring food scarcity, abundance, and mutations in a futuristic setting. I enjoyed a lot of the references some stories made to satire works, especially A Modest Proposal. My favorite was by far “Recipe From the Future” although I really enjoyed “Lorenzo and the Last Fig” as well! Thank you to the publisher, Dundurn Press and NetGalley for my advanced reader copy!

Combine my love of food with my fear of a future without it (the way it exists today) and you’ll have effectively pulled me in. A series of short stories set in a changed future world (one we are likely heading towards) some of my favorites included:

- pleased to meet you
- succulent
- pollinators
- a view worth all the aqua in the world
- unlimited dream

Very interesting set of stories that left me thinking.

Will definitely be ordering and recommending. Good collection and mostly enjoyed the stories, as much as you can with this theme. I found some new to me authors to look into and that is the best part about these collections for me.

Rating this short story collection was difficult as though all the stories were linked through a similar theme, my level of enjoyment varied. I did enjoy that some stories were dystopian and dark, whereas others were light and weird. I also found this collection extremely compelling and relevant to the current world.

Thank you to netgalley and Dundurn Press for allowing me to read this book before publication.

Wow! These stories are powerful reminders of what we are doing to our home! Very scary and very real! Loved this book so much and it’s very thought provoking and sad, at times.

I think it’s always hard to rate a collection of short stories, some were of course better than others. I really liked the unique thread that tied these together. All of them were a little dystopian, but some were positive and some were quirky and unique. My favorite was A View Worth all the Aqua in the World, and Just a Taste.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

As a passionate fan of speculative fiction, I found this short story collection to be quite enjoyable. The central theme—the future of food—is explored from various perspectives. Some stories are humorous, while others are tragic, and some raise important ethical questions.
Although some of the short stories are more entertaining than others, the collection as a whole is impressive, showcasing a wide range of styles and settings.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Please note this is a 3.5.

This was an interesting compilation of short speculative fiction pieces centered around one of the base instincts of humanity - eating. As with all anthology pieces, some of these were real standouts, and others were lacking. I found a lot of the concepts really interesting, but particularly the idea of celebrity consumption (which, let's face it, everyone borders with parasocial relationships they hold with celebrities if they do so), and the idea of the memory of food existing where it cannot be shared with the wider world.

I think the story that grabbed me the most was the latter, with the idea of memory 'hoarding' of foods and tastes and concepts. We currently live in a world where food availability in first world countries has never been easier, and we have nearly every possible taste available to us in easy reach. A world reduced to very little taste and substance is, of course, a very possible reality, especially with food insecurity, and we may well one day find ourselves reaching to grasp the memory of a burger from something that has been around far longer than we have.

I did think that there were some stories, particularly towards the end, that could have stood to have a little more substance. I started them, was just starting to get into them, and then they ended. This is, of course, a common course with anthologies, but I did want a little bit more from some of the authors in making this a meatier collection. It was definitely thought-provoking and interesting, however!

This was my very first short story collection, and can I just say…it was beautifully terrifying. I enjoyed more of the funny ones (like the people going back and forth with their reviews), but it really gave me a lot to think about.

I say it’s terrifying because some of these seemingly outrageous things (eating celebrity flesh that they sold when they were alive??) could be the reality of the world in 100 years (never know, I’m sure people in 1924 didn’t think we’d have iPhones lol).

Overall, these short stories were so well written and I would be interested to read more from some of these writers

Like most multi-authored anthologies, some stories caught my attention and others were more of a struggle to get through. This collection presents a diverse range of voices and styles, which is both its strength and its challenge.

I like that the collection was centered around the theme "Fiction from the Future of Food." Though, to be honest, some of the stories felt heavy-handed.

That being said, if you like weird, speculative, black mirror-esque stories, then definitely check out this collection! 90% of the stories are unique, thoughtful, engaging and freaky!

Thanks to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for the ARC!

4/5 Stars

This is an anthology of short stories about the future of food in a climate warmed world written by Canadian authors I’m not much of a fan of short story collections and don’t read them very often as I often find that I’m just getting into a story when it’s over and I’m having to readjust to the next one. I did have a reach for this collection as I’m a fan of dystopian fiction and the subject matter of a future when food access is not as easy it is now interested me
As always when reviewing a an anthology like this is very difficult to do that and mention all the authors individually. All the stories were interesting and well written and the editor has worked hard to collate a selection of stories at all work well together.
A few of the stories that stuck in my wind were Pleased to meet you, by Catherine Bush the thought of the genetically modified food you eat having a mind and being able to communicate with you after it was really creepy
In story, Succulent by Elon Mastel celebrities donate their genetic sequence to make artificial meat and it’s quite an amusing concept
You need your license for that by sifton Tracey anipare grabbed me immediately why would women need license? Make a baby or to eat or both? The scene when she’s in the toilet munching on a cake was fabulous
Lorenzo and the last Fig tree by Boudel tan The last fig tree on Earth emblematic of the we treat nature I love the image of this tree surrounded around it by guards and fences quietly dying from lack of love is so emblematic of our relationship with Mother Earth .This was I think my favourite story
In summary this is a well collated interesting selection of stories loosely about our relationship with food and it’s future in a dystopian world. The order had different writing style but all of them were interesting and enjoyable to read.

I read an early copy of the novel on NetGalley UK. The book is published in the UK in April 2025 by Dundum press
This review will appear on NetGalley UK Goodreads, and my book blog BionicSarahsbooks.wordpress.com. After publication it will also appear on Amazon UK.

I enjoyed reading this collection. Some stories caught my attention more than others, but all had their merits. Short stories about the future of food amongst climate change, population growth, the loss of pollinators were always going to be my cup of tea. The overall vibe of the book was Black Mirror-esque, and many of the stories gave me a sense of foreboding. Some of the stories I would have loved to have seen as a novel or even a novella with a little bit more time spent in the story and with the characters. Thanks for the ARC.

very interesting work about the horror of food in the age that is coming. the very first short story in the set gets in very very strongly with a work about lab-grown meat that goes sentient. There are many other works in the set that are strong, from one told in a set of reviews to one focused on life after bees. As always, a mix, but a good one. 4 stars. Tysm for the arc.

Our lives, our culture, and our community all start with and revolve around food and eating. But we are entering an era of unprecedented change.

This book explores this setting in strange, morbid ways. A collection of short stories, written by Canada's most exciting authors.

When I saw this book over on NetGalley, I was strangely drawn to it. It might be the theme or the blurb, maybe the title or a collection of all of these. Each story is told by a different author, some longer than others and all telling their own tale on the take on what happens in the future of our food. Lab-grown meat, a future without bees, even cannibalism (can it be really named if one eats clones instead of actual humans?) - all these topics and more make an appearance.

In theory, this book would've been right up my alley, in reality, however, I just didn't seem to be able to connect. Some of these stories were easier for me, while others didn't fit at all.

I really wish I could've said I loved this one, but the reality is, that it was a battle reading it. Maybe it was the fact that there were so many different stories that always seemed to pull me out or maybe it was not enough of my mood for now.

Still, if the topic feels like it's up your alley, I'd definitely give it a try, as the writing itself isn't bad at all.

I love this collection of short stories. I thought they were very unique and thought provoking. I went through a range of emotions reading this book. I was scared at times, disgusted and also it gave me some hope. This book was much different than anything I have ever read.

“Devouring Tomorrow” is an assortment of short stories predominantly set in dystopian futures and all either feature or centre around the concept of food and our relationship with it. All written by different authors, this collection offers the opportunity to sample this tasting menu of stories pick your favourite, savour some, devour others and question the necessity of a few in the middle.

As with most short story collections compiled from different authors - some hit and some miss. This is the same with reading the right novel at the wrong time – you don’t always have time to adapt to new styles of writing in quick succession and it results in a mediocre reception of the novel. This happened with a few of the short stories in the collection but let me be clear – none were DNF standard.

There were, however, some real treats in there.

'Unlimited Dream' by Mark Sampson, 'Just a Taste' by A.G.A Wilmot, 'I Want Candy' by Dina Del Bucchia, 'A View Worth all the Aqua in the World' by Anuja Varghese and 'You need a Licence for That' by Sifton Tracey Inipare were my stand out stories from the collection. I felt as though they added a completely original concept – be it the writing style (entirely dialogue) or the premise (creating food from vivid dreams – but don’t dare eat it!) each had something to give or something to learn from it.

Overall, I would totally recommend this to my friends and fellow readers. Innovative, creative and a pleasure to read. Thank you for letting me read this as an ARC.

Devouring Tomorrow is a collection of short stories centered around food in the future, specifically in Canada. It was an interesting read—some stories I "devoured," while others I didn't enjoy as much. But that problem is okay with me when it comes to anthologies from different authors.

One thing that always happens with short stories is that I end up wanting more (I'm looking at you, "Just a Taste" and "Rubber Road"). I wished they were longer so I could spend more time with the characters.

Overall, the writers did a great job, and if you're looking for a collection of short stories, pick this one up!

Wow, what can I even say about this collection of speculative/futuristic fiction… many of the tales are indescribable, they need to be read for anyone to fully process and digest the thoughts and messages. Some were totally bizarre, yet all were truly thought provoking.

While I feel a mixture of fear and disgust (and maybe even some hope 🦋) for the future, it was actually really nice to submerge myself in prose that engaged me as a reader. I found myself actively questioning each story and comparing it to the path of the world around me. Frighteningly and honestly, a lot of these Canadian authors write “fiction” that doesn’t seem so far from potentially “non fiction” in today’s world.

I really enjoyed this anthology, many of the authors were new to me, but it was great to discover some voices that I really resonated with.

Thank you to NetGalley, the editors, the authors, and Dundurn Press/ Rare Machines for a copy!